Long-term care system ‘unfair’, report claims

Britain’s system for paying for long-term care for the elderly is “unfair” and “incoherent”, a new report has claimed.

The report, by social policy charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said that the present system is “unsustainable”, because it does not provide a clear-cut set of entitlements, according to how much care people need, or rules determining how much they should contribute, according to ability to pay.

The charity said a national debate was needed in order to determine how better to share the cost of long-term care between the state and private individuals. The report said: “With the number of over-80s set to double in the next 30 years, people of all ages need reassurance that they will be able to get good quality care when they need it and will not have to impoverish themselves in the process.”

The report made a number of suggestions for a reformed system, including: improving the system that helps pay for residential and nursing care according to a person’s diagnosed condition; limiting the extent to which people are required to use the proceeds of selling their home before they are eligible for local authority help with care costs; and providing a better deal to those on low incomes, who are currently required to give up most of their pensions before receiving local authority.

The report’s author, Donald Hirsch, said the changes were necessary to prevent “an excessive burden” falling on families to pay for care. He said: “If we keep our present system of public funding, most of the increase will fall on individuals, many of whom will find it difficult to pay.

“We need a system that is fair and clear to users. If we can create such a system, people are likely to be more willing to contribute the extra tax or national insurance – amounting to perhaps half a percent of national income – needed to avoid an excessive burden on families in terms of financial and direct caring commitments.

Sir Christopher Kelly, former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Health, who chairs the group advising the Foundation on long-term care funding, said: "One way or another, we will have to pay the growing care bill: if we avoid raising more public resources the burden will fall on hard-pressed families.

"As with pensions, if we delay for too long in confronting the realities of an ageing population, it will become much more painful to make the necessary changes than if we act now."

(KMcA/SP)